Considering their corporate mantra is “Do No Evil”, Google plays a very strong fear game.

Regular updates via spokespeople like Gary Illyes, Danny Sullivan and, formerly, Matt Cutts, keep everyone guessing and the fear building about what works in SEO.

Step over the line with your SEO and you’ll get a penalty.

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The problem is those lines are blurred and we get contradicting advice from different Google employees and ‘gurus’.

Here’s an example of a self-serving Google SEO instruction

We are recently being told to add a variety of tags to outbound links – as if no follow wasn’t already a controversial subject.

We’ve now got the tag rel=“sponsored” – this is used to tell Google whether you received compensation for a link or not. That’s interesting, as it clearly shows that they can’t identify a paid link from a freely given one.

Then there’s rel=“ugc” – this is to differentiate user-generated content like blog comments. Again, it’s surprising that Google can’t sort this type of content from native content on a website.

In the statement below, Google have openly admitted these shortcomings and it hints at there being little added value to a website for making the effort to add these tags. The gain is purely there for Google in my opinion.

“Links contain valuable information that can help us improve search, such as how the words within links describe content they point at. Looking at all the links we encounter can also help us better understand unnatural linking patterns. By shifting to a hint model, we no longer lose this important information, while still allowing site owners to indicate that some links shouldn’t be given the weight of a first-party endorsement.”

So, for any SEO professional that keeps an eye on updates, it’s clear that one should look at what works.

And not rely too much on the rumours that Google can spot any manipulative tactic from half a mile, because it isn’t true.

However, there are some SEO activities that we know Google has clarity on.

And it is one of those methods that ‘some’ SEO people love for all the wrong reasons.

Primarily because it makes them look smart, conscientious and careful without trying too hard (a bit harsh to say, but it’s true).

But like I said, if you look at the method in any depth it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

And here’s why.

Majestic have two primary link metrics you may have heard of.

Citation Flow (CF) – looks at backlink volume and quality to a lesser extent (Citation Flow…predicts how influential a URL might be based on how many sites link to it…a strong link will have a relatively stronger influence – source Majestic.com)

“Relevance is the new PageRank” – I shouted that loudly once or twice about 4 years ago, and I was wrong lol!

But to be fair, relevance is still very important but not to the extent it replaces PageRank.

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Google uses relevance to help rank sites of course, but not how most people* imagine it does (*the SEO herd).

And that simple misunderstanding is why so many ‘relevancy zealots’ spend fortunes looking for ‘relevant’ domains for link building when they don’t need to, as I will explain.

Here’s their big, expensive mistake

By narrowing the relevance of domains down to only the sites that are closely matched to their own site, they miss swathes of opportunities, causing themselves undue cost and harm.

And it’s a pointless exercise when you realise this…

There’s enough research to assume that Google assesses the relevance of a backlink within the content using these elements.

It starts with the link itself.

Google will ask;

“To what degree is the destination page (the page we are linking to) relevant to the following elements in the article we are linking from?”

1. The sentence the backlink resides inE.g. “The best SEO tools are easy to use yet powerful and can really make a difference.”

Relevance = 10/10

2. Then the paragraph the backlink is in“Marketing can be tough. SEO is especially tough but with the help of the right software you can get better results. The best SEO tools are easy to use yet powerful and can really make a difference.”

Relevance = 9/10 because it is a paragraph about marketing and SEO.

3. The relevance of the backlink to the headline“Best Digital Marketing Software for 2020”

Relevance = 7/10 because it does not mention SEO, but the topic is about marketing software.

4. The relevance of the website category to the backlinkRelevance = 7/10 because this article would logically sit in a category on a blog titled Software or Marketing. In this case, both would be relevant

And finally…

5. The relevance of the backlink to the domain nameThis is where most people trip up and there are different scenarios here, all of which would affect the power of the backlink less than the elements above.

For example, our article with our link to an SEO software site could still be published on any of these domains and still pass link power.

SEO blog – relevance = 10/10

Marketing news website relevance = 8/10

Business news website relevance= 5/10

Retail news website relevance = 3/10

The biggest problem is that so many people focus on the relevance of the domain

As illustrated above, Google isn’t interested so much in the topic of a domain.

It matters to some extent of course, but it primarily cares about the trustworthiness of the domain as a source of information.

The overall quality of the information on the site and its pages are what really matters.

If CNN publishes an article on dementia treatment, then chances are it is a well-researched piece.

A link from that CNN article to a dementia charity that features in a relevant paragraph will carry some weight.

And that happens, not because CNN is a relevant domain, as it isn’t, but because it is trusted, and the link is relevant to the article.

Alternatively, if you had a link from a poor SEO blog to your SEO software page, Google would not give that backlink much weight regardless of its top to bottom relevance.

It would pass some relevance signals but that might be because the site is fundamentally weak and not trusted enough for Google to care who it links out to.

So how can you test these statements?

You can easily check by looking at the backlink profiles of virtually every well-ranked website on the internet.

Very few of them will have high numbers of backlinks from topically relevant domains.

That’s because natural linking happens organically as webmasters link out to content that supports points they are making.

Sites that have only topically relevant domains are more likely to attract attention from Google for unnatural linking patterns.

That’s another great reason to mix it up.

For you to take advantage of how relevance works in backlink building is easy

Publish well-researched articles on a single topic on a trusted domain.

Use lots of relevant language in the article.

Include keywords in titles and format the article so that it meets the needs of multiple search queries.

Support the points made in the article by linking to a few other authority sources.

Make the article unique, clear of grammatical errors, and readable.

In summary: be creative, write great content and keep your links useful and natural.

There are times when it’s really not good to stand out in a crowd. Like when there’s a serious penalty to pay.

The real smart spies blend in and do things nice and slowly.

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If you want to build links but avoid a nasty slap from Google, you need to do the same and think like the epic World War 2 British spy Virginia Hall and not like James Bond (more about her later, she’s interesting).

For years, Google made it super easy to rank for any target keyword (if you knew how).

They used anchor text (the text you use to link from one page to another) as a powerful signal of relevance.

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So, all we did was choose the keyword we wanted to rank for and link like crazy with it.

Thankfully, those days are over, but here’s something: it can still be a powerful tactic if used correctly (I’ll show you how in this post).

Plus, I’ll also give you an example of how the foolish still make a mess of it!

Now, let’s talk about what’s changed with anchors over the last few years, so you can use them to your advantage.

A while back, Google felt that adding a keyword into a text backlink was a smart way to infer relevance.

And, in practice, it still is to some extent, but they overrated it as a ranking factor and got spammed to hell.

Sadly, we still see ‘experts’ preaching about its importance, which means we get clients panicking about what anchor text to use in their campaigns.

In fairness, we still ask for anchor keywords when setting up a campaign, but it’s only to partially guide us on their use.

So now I’ll tell you how to use anchor text the right way

First, you’ve got to know what Google hates.

That is anchor text for backlinks that don’t inform the user of what’s on the other side.

Easy fix 🙂

The linking paragraph needs to be in harmony with the link within it.

E.g. Our new red glitter shoes are all the rage in Manhattan. You can find them all in our new range of red shoes here.

Et voila, the link is linking to a page full of their new range of red shoes.

Now, you don’t need to link with every word – but you should link to the words that identify what is behind the link – in this case ‘new range of red shoes here’.

Here’s where the SEO laggards still go horribly wrong

Check out this example of a link placement.

“Our new red glitter shoes are all the rage in Manhattan. You can find our new range of red glitter shoes Manhattan here.”

It reads all wrong, but people still do this because they are desperate to rank for the key phrase “red glitter shoes Manhattan” and believe that this exact match anchor tactic still works.

Google has got really smart with its understanding of text (see Google Bert update), so there’s no need to use words in the same order that someone who is searching would.

It also knows which keywords get the highest search volume, and it isn’t beyond them to spot that someone may be attempting to manipulate them if the exact keywords in anchors are used over and over.

If someone does this for more than a few links, then they should expect those links not to have any impact or worse, get them a nasty penalty.

And it’s no use relying on software that suggests 1% or 5% exact match anchors or whatever, because those tools that attempt to work out anchor text tolerances cannot see whether the sites it is analysing have disavowed those links. Think about that one. Add to that the fact that Google has different tolerances for different niches and you have a tough job guessing.

Your best bet is to avoid having the same anchor more than a few times and just focus on the context that the link is placed within, rather than using the actual keyword to link. Google will easily work out why the link is present using multiple signals, so there’s no need to freak out.

The one place you can go hard with exact match anchors

Guessed yet?

Your own site.

Yes, Google encourages you to use keyword anchors on your own site to link your content together.

It helps users when they are looking for more information within the site, acting as an additional navigation system.

So, feel free to find the best pages on your site and search for your keywords, then use them as links to pages you want to promote.

This is especially good for SEO if you have authority content on deeper levels of your site and want to pass some of that power around.

In summary, be extra careful with your anchors in external content and focus on placing the links where they make sense, but go crazy on your own site.

In my next post, you’ll learn how to outsmart Google like a spy on steroids; check out my next email for the link 🙂

In this post, I’ll destroy the biggest guest post myth and share with you 5 tips for doing guest posting the right way for maximum benefit.

But first, here’s a story that mirrors how Google operates in relation to links…

Imagine you’re selling your $40,000 car sports car; one that you haven’t been thrashing around town for the last 2 years 😉

And the buyer asks for some vouches for your character and driving style…

If you roll out 10 of your best buddies to back you up, then that might look suspicious, right?

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It might not be, but your buyer can’t be sure.

And that suspicion erodes trust and the sale may slip away.

But if you get references from a mechanic, a car sales guy, a local policeman and a bunch of people that know your driving habits, then things look better.

The recommendations from these people are impartial and from a wide range of sources, some of which have authority.

Trust is more likely to be established and you have more of a chance of making the sale.

And if you want Google to trust your website, it’s exactly the same.

Every link from a site unconnected to you is a vote or a recommendation that your site can be trusted – links from your mates or from yourself don’t count.

The question is, do guest posts serve that purpose?

The biggest myth is that all guest posting is bad for SEO and is a path to a penalty.

But the truth is Google doesn’t hate ALL guest posts; guest posting isn’t dead, and they don’t ALL get you penalties.

But only if…

Your sources are credible – as in the story above, AND you deploy them with SKILL.

Remember these 3 simple facts about Google…

Google wants and needs content.

Bloggers need your content.

Readers want to find your content.

So guest posts are great for everyone but…

What Google doesn’t want is crap!!!

Automated, spun content is hated by all.

Drivel with keyword-rich anchors serves nobody.

Plagiarised or blatantly copied content is bad.

As are unnatural backlinks from content pointing to irrelevant pages.

However, quality guest posts form a part of any smart link strategy.

Five easy to action tips to help you do guest posting right

Choose sites that have at least some organic traffic (SEM Rush 100 minimum is a good rule of thumb) and are publishing content at least once a month. It shows they are in Google and visible.

Supply well-written content to the host site (content length is not always important, but delivering answers and matching keyword intent is). You want your content to stand out as genuine and not just a link vehicle when it is read by users and indexed for search by Google.

Don’t submit a ton of guest posts (more than 50) in a short period unless you are promoting yours or your client’s site in other ways. Why? Because unless the guest post sites authors are psychic, there’s no other reason why they would all link out to the same place at the same time! It’s a big red flag and an easy footprint to track (Tip: a well-timed press release can help with this because it raises awareness and makes acquiring other backlinks justified).

As the story above shows, diversify your link profile. It is way more natural for a site to get links from a mix of niches than it is to get them from one. When a story breaks, it often gets picked up by mainstream media and bloggers, not just the niche the story is related to, so don’t only contact cooking sites to promote your chocolate fondue kits.

Don’t chase one metric too hard. DA, DR, TrustFlow, and others are useful, but not in isolation. Look at as many metrics as you can as some will have high DA but low traffic – a sure sign of spammy link building. Our M-Flux formula focuses on 5 metrics to ensure those slippy ‘high DA’ built for links and Google manipulation sites don’t get through.

In the next email, you’ll discover the most common (and most pointless) tactic that won’t go away.

Estimated organic website traffic is another metric that is being abused by backlink sellers recently.

Simply because it ‘could’ equate to a website worth linking from, right?

It’s not a quantum leap to assume that estimated organic search engine traffic is a positive signal, but it needs to be used sensibly, and with other metrics (I will reveal how in this email).

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However, there are reasons to be cautious about this assumption, which I’ll also take you through one by one.

High traffic does not always = quality or suitability for placing your backlinks

Sites need to be assessed on a site and niche basis because low traffic isn’t always a deal-breaker.

A site could be receiving low traffic for a lot of reasons.

Good reasons for a site getting lower traffic estimates are:

It’s a site that is in a tiny niche with low volumes of search.

In this case, the site traffic may never grow but it may be an authority in its niche. You should look at other metrics such as Ahrefs Domain Rating and Majestic Trust Flow to assess relative authority.

It’s a new site (so maybe it has growth potential).

In this case, look at the content and quality of the design. If it is engaging readers and getting shares, then it could be a site on an upward trend.

It’s a tiny site but the content is top-notch for its niche.

As above, check out the content and look at the backlinks it’s acquiring.

This could easily be another small but authoritative site that is worth getting a link from.

A link from any of the sites described could be useful, so don’t discount without having a good look.

On the flip side, some people assume that high traffic is a winner

But this isn’t always the case.

Bad reasons for high traffic could be:

The site is in a niche with millions of long-tail keywords, so it scavenges traffic.

In this case, check the rankings of the keywords by using a tool like Ahrefs, where you can see the distribution of rankings. If they are mostly on page two and beyond, then the site isn’t an authority in its niche.

The site has masses of poor content so ranks for lots of long-tail keywords.

This could mean the site is not an authority but is so big that it is visible.

The site content has no topical focus and ranks for a ton of useless keywords.

A lot of old but poor news sites have this profile. In this case, look at the inner pages and see if they are garnering any Ahrefs UR or Moz PA – this will show you whether any link you place has any chance of being worth anything.

In most cases, you probably need to avoid these kinds of sites.

So how can you find sites that meet your needs for SEO?

Without setting a minimum of thousands of traffic and high backlink metrics (which is just making life harder for no reason).